Nigeria: How Ebola Was Contained in Africa's Largest City

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Now that 42 days have passed without any new cases of Ebola in
Nigeria, the country is officially Ebola-free, the World Health
Organization
declared today.

On July 20, an ill passenger from Liberia brought the Ebola virus
to Lagos, which, with a population of 21 million, is the largest
city in not only Nigeria but all of Africa.

From patient zero, the virus spread to 19 more people, eight of
whom died of the disease. But the outbreak was contained, and no
further cases have developed since then.

"This is a spectacular success storythat shows to the world that
Ebola can be contained," Rui Gama Vaz, the head of WHO's country
office in Nigeria, said at a news conference in the city Abuja,
according to Al Jazeera.

The Nigerian Ebola outbreak occurred in a setting that had all
the elements that could have allowed it to turn into a much
bigger outbreak, similar to the one now ravaging Guinea,
Sierra Leone and Liberia. Lagos has as many residents as the
combined population of those three countries, and is also a major
transit hub in the region, with air, land and sea ports of entry,
according to the country's officials.

"The dense population and overburdened infrastructure create an
environment where diseases can be easily transmitted and
transmission sustained," researchers wrote in an Oct. 3 report
published by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But a rapid, coordinated response halted the outbreak in its
tracks. By late September, about 900 people — nearly everyone
who'd had contact
with patient zero and another person he infected — were
identified, interviewed and monitored. Approximately 18,500
face-to-face visits were conducted by investigators from the
Nigerian Center for Disease Control and the State Ministry of
Health to achieve this, according to the report.

People who were suspected of having Ebola were transported to an
isolation ward, and those who tested positive for Ebola were
moved to a treatment center.

People can contract Ebola if they have contact with the bodily
fluids of a person who is sick with the virus. It can take
between two and 21 days for an infected person to start showing
symptoms. [ 5
Things You Should Know About Ebola ]

After 21 days, if an exposed person does not develop symptoms, he
or she will not become sick with Ebola, according to the CDC. But
for WHO to declare an Ebola outbreak over, a country must pass 42
days (twice the incubation period for Ebola virus) with no new
cases detected. Moreover, active surveillance must be in place to
detect "chains of transmission that might otherwise remain
hidden," according
to WHO.

Another key reason that Nigeria overcame its Ebola crisis was the
country's virology laboratory at the Lagos University Teaching
Hospital, where researchers were able to quickly diagnose cases,
according to WHO.

People were also educated about the disease via social media and
TV programs delivered by Nigerian movie celebrities.

"Strong public awareness campaigns — teamed with early engagement
of traditional, religious and community leaders — also played a
key role in successful containment of this outbreak," WHO said.

Nigeria remains on "high alert," with officials looking out for
other imported cases of Ebola. But its success story shows other
countries that with a proper response, Ebola can be controlled.

"If a country like Nigeria, hampered by serious security
problems, can do this ... any country in the world experiencing
an imported case can hold onward transmission to just a handful
of cases," Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, wrote in a
statement.